CHELSEA had to sing for their supper before they made APOEL crumble in Cyprus last night.
A goal from Nicolas Anelka was enough to claim the spoils in Nicosia - but this was a performance starved of any substance.
There was no goal glut, no delicious skill and certainly no feast of football.
In fact, most of what was tasty about this tie came from the Cypriots. They hassled and harried, pressured and pushed and generally made a nuisance of themselves.
And when Chelsea did think they had got on top, APOEL just kept coming back - like a kebab the morning after the night before.
For Carlo Ancelotti, it must have felt like Groundhog Day.
Last weekend his team were outfought at unfancied Wigan.
Last night they came to one of the furthest outposts of the Champions League and failed to match the effort of the minnows from Cyprus.
Skipper John Terry made the point after their first defeat of the season that every player had to stand up and be counted.
But for much of this contest, Chelsea looked more like they were still lying by the pool of their hotel.The Blues fans - some 1,400 of them - had all opted to stay by the sea on this holiday island.They were then bussed into Nicosia a couple of hours before kick-off but they surely did not expect to see their team treading water when they got there.
Chelsea's form in away matches in the group stage of this competition has been poor - two draws and a defeat last season. Up until last night they had not won a match in mainland Europe since beating Rosenborg in December 2007.
Progress was again patchy last night, with the visitors' best chances coming from scrappy set-pieces.
Frank Lampard supplied decent crosses but Branislav Ivanovic failed to get his head on the end of them.
The first clear sight of goal came after 15 minutes when Michael Essien and Anelka linked up and a speedy centre found Salomon Kalou in space.
He made a decent fist of a first-time shot but it trundled harmlessly past a post.
APOEL had a bad habit of giving the ball away cheaply and, when Juliano Belletti went galloping down the right, they were made to pay dearly. A simple cutback found Anelka, who pinged a gorgeous right-footer high into the far corner.
The France striker also hit the only goal in Chelsea's win over Porto on Matchday One and he is proving a brilliant stand-in for the suspended Didier Drogba.
Remarkably, it was the first time Chelsea have scored before the half-hour mark in any competition this season.
Yet, within a minute, APOEL were on the attack and the ball fell to Constantinos Charalambides on the edge of the box. He had time to do much better than scuff his volley well wide. APOEL refused to lie down and let their more prestigious opponents walk all over them.
They kept Chelsea waiting to start the second half - and, when they did, they came out fighting.
First, Terry gave the ball away 40 yards out and had to backpedal to snuff out the danger.
Just as silly, Ricardo Carvalho gifted it to Nektarios Alexandrou - and Ashley Cole had to sweep in and knock the ball out for a corner. The hosts could smell fear and swarmed forward in waves - a tactic they would not have dared risk in the first period.
Kamil Kosowski came on to add some height to the industry on the flanks and, for 10 minutes or so, Chelsea were on the back foot.
And they should have been pegged back after 64 minutes.
Savvas Poursaitides found himself completely alone just 12 yards out. But he hesitated and shot weakly at Petr Cech, who cleared with his feet.
Inevitably, with APOEL pushing forward, there were gaps left at the back and Lampard crossed with 12 minutes left.
Florent Malouda met the ball just 10 yards out but his finish was poor and straight at the feet of keeper Dionisis Chiotis.
Joe Cole came on for a late cameo which could yet be a preview to playing at the weekend.
Along with Drogba, midfielder Cole is Chelsea's top-scorer against Liverpool and, on the evidence of the last few days, Ancelotti will need all the firepower he can get if the Blues are to beat the Reds on Sunday.
